AUSTIN — AUSTIN -Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush is pleased to announce that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has approved the 2015 State of Texas Action Plan detailing eligible uses and allocation of available Community Development Block Grants for Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds to assist communities with long-term recovery from the floods and other disasters of 2015. 

"Communities in Texas faced tremendous losses from flood disasters in 2015 and 2016," said Commissioner Bush. "The counties impacted represent 76 percent of the Texas population, or 20.9 million people - a total population greater than that of 48 states. The GLO's Community Development and Revitalization program plays a vital role restoring a sense of comfort and community spirit through recovery efforts. Our CDR team continues to work diligently with leaders in affected communities to prioritize projects and maximize the use of disaster recovery funding to the benefit of those affected by these disasters." 

Approval of the action plan allows the HUD-designated most impacted counties of Harris, Hays, Hidalgo and Travis to proceed with plans to distribute respective shares of $22.2 million in funding. With this approval, the state can also move forward with an amendment to the action plan detailing the scoring criteria for determining the distribution of the remaining $28.4 million of funds.  This amendment will be posted for public review in the next several days.

There are 116 Texas counties eligible for recovery funding as a result of receiving Presidential Disaster Declarations for 2015 events. The GLO's Community Development and Revitalization (GLO-CDR) program will oversee the administration of $50.6 million in CDBG-DR funds provided by HUD for these recovery efforts. Cities, counties and housing authorities in the declared areas are eligible to apply. As with previous disaster recovery grants, GLO-CDR will determine the most efficient use of the funds in order to maximize the number of projects that can be completed by the affected communities in Texas. 

The GLO estimates a combined loss of more than $2 billion in unmet long-term recovery needs. The CDBG-DR allocation made to the state of Texas for 2015 and 2016 floods totals $364.2 million.

Please visit http://www.texasrebuilds.org/Pages/Floods-2015.aspx to review the amendment to the 2015 State of Texas Action Plan.

About GLO Community Development & Revitalization 

The CDR program of the Texas General Land Office administers Community Development Block Grants for Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) on behalf of the state of Texas. Funds totaling more than $3.9 billion have been allocated for recovery following Hurricanes Rita, Dolly, and Ike, the 2011 wildfires and the 2015 and 2016 floods.